Title	Zirconia Ceramic Versus Aluminum Oxide As Implant Materials
Clinical Question	In a patient requiring dental implants, is Zirconia a more suitable material than aluminum oxide?
Clinical Bottom Line	Alumina implants are not adequate. Zirconia implants have better survival rates than alumina implants during three years of study. However, the studies on titanium implants over a longer period of time show that titanium implants have the best survival rate out of the three materials, but the metallic color of titanium shows through on the anterior gingiva. Whereas, Zirconia implants are translucent and do not show through. (See Comments on the CAT below)
Best Evidence
PubMed ID Author / Year Patient Group Study type (level of evidence) 19663947 Andreiotelli/2009 Implant patients and lab tests Systemic Review Key results The systematic review identified histological animal studies showing similar bone-implant contact (BIC) between alumina, zirconia and titanium. Clinical investigations using different alumina oral implants up to 10 years showed survival/success rates in the range of 23 to 98% for different indications. The included zirconia implant studies presented a survival rate from 84% after 21 months to 98% after 1 year. This demonstrates that zirconia implants have better result compared to Alumina implants.
Evidence Search	Search "Aluminum Oxide"[Mesh]Search "Dental Implants"[Mesh]Search "zirconium oxide" [Supplementary Concept]
Comments on The Evidence	This article is a systemic review. It is done with non-randomized controlled trials. It included a comprehensive and detailed search for the implant trials. Meta-analysis was not done. Individual studies were assessed for validity.
Applicability	Zirconia implants are recommended over the aluminum oxide implants. If a patient is esthetically sensitive, a practitioner can recommend Zirconia implants. If the implant site is in the posterior region, a practitioner should recommend titanium implants.
Specialty	(Oral Surgery) (Periodontics) (Prosthodontics) (Restorative Dentistry)
Keywords	Zirconia ceramic, dental implant, aluminum oxide
ID#	794
Date of submission	03/23/2011
E-mail	seaj@livemail.uthscsa.edu
Author	Jue Sea
Co-author(s)
Co-author(s) e-mail
Faculty mentor	H. Ralph Rawls, PhD
Faculty mentor e-mail	RAWLS@uthscsa.edu
Basic Science Rationale (Mechanisms that may account for and/or explain the clinical question, i.e. is the answer to the clinical question consistent with basic biological, physical and/or behavioral science principles, laws and research?) None available
Comments and Evidence-Based Updates on the CAT (FOR PRACTICING DENTISTS', FACULTY, RESIDENTS and/or STUDENTS COMMENTS ON PUBLISHED CATs) by Ashley Harris (San Antonio, TX) on 07/13/2011 Search for CAT was repeated and answer is still valid based on the most resent search.